Advice for GTR SJPN

[frsss]

Hello everyone. I’ve just registered an account and would like to ask for advice from experienced bloggers here.


I am an international student who graduated not long ago and recently moved to London. On 7 August 2025, I was travelling on Thameslink from Farringdon to Brighton and encountered a ticket inspector.


Because I had only just started my job a few days earlier, I didn’t know that Oyster cards cannot be used for travel from Farringdon to Brighton. That day I was in a rush, so when transferring at Farringdon I used my Oyster card. When the inspector came, I didn’t have a valid ticket, but I mistakenly believed that tapping in counted as having a ticket, so I told her that I had one.


Due to work-related reasons, I was extremely anxious that day and honestly couldn’t properly understand what she was saying. I kept answering “yes” to her questions. I now realise this was very foolish. I then bought a ticket in front of her. My internet connection was very poor at the time, and I even connected to her hotspot to complete the purchase. When the ticket finally loaded and she scanned it, she told me that it was an on-the-spot purchase.


She also recorded that I said I had tapped out at Brighton several times, but that was not what I meant. My intention was to say that I had tapped out at Farringdon. I made a very stupid mistake in expressing myself.


She took my personal details and said that they would contact me by letter. On 4 December, I received a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) letter. I replied to this letter on 15 December, but I did not send it with tracking. At the time, I didn’t know about this forum and did not follow the recommended template when replying. I believe they may not have been satisfied with my response, as I also did not explicitly state that I wished to settle the matter out of court, because I did not know this term at the time.


In my letter, I expressed that I was willing to pay the fine and any additional costs. Then, on 28 January, I received a Single Justice Procedure Notice (SJPN), which requires me to respond within 21 days. This means I must send my response to the court by 16 February, using next-day delivery.


After reading many cases on the forum and following the recommended template, I sent an email requesting an out-of-court settlement at around 2:00 a.m. on 3 February. I also sent a physical letter by post to their address on the afternoon of 3 February, using tracked delivery, and it was delivered on 4 February.


However, in the email, when I wrote the reference number and journey details at the beginning, I misspelled “Farringdon” as “Farrington.” The content of the posted letter, however, was completely correct.


I have several questions regarding this situation.

1. Will the spelling mistake affect their decision on an out-of-court settlement?
   If it might, should I send a follow-up email to clarify or correct the mistake?
2. Based on other cases I’ve seen, the typical turnaround time seems to be around three days.
   If I do not receive a response by Friday 5 February, should I send a chase / follow-up email on Monday next week, or would that be too soon?

I am feeling extremely anxious about this situation. I have spoken to my solicitor, who advised me that a Byelaw 18 offence would not be recorded on a DBS check, but I am still hoping very much that this matter can be settled out of court.


Any advice or experience would be greatly appreciated.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hello everyone. I’ve just registered an account and would like to ask for advice from experienced bloggers here.


I am an international student who graduated not long ago and recently moved to London. On 7 August 2025, I was travelling on Thameslink from Farringdon to Brighton and encountered a ticket inspector.


Because I had only just started my job a few days earlier, I didn’t know that Oyster cards cannot be used for travel from Farringdon to Brighton. That day I was in a rush, so when transferring at Farringdon I used my Oyster card. When the inspector came, I didn’t have a valid ticket, but I mistakenly believed that tapping in counted as having a ticket, so I told her that I had one.


Due to work-related reasons, I was extremely anxious that day and honestly couldn’t properly understand what she was saying. I kept answering “yes” to her questions. I now realise this was very foolish. I then bought a ticket in front of her. My internet connection was very poor at the time, and I even connected to her hotspot to complete the purchase. When the ticket finally loaded and she scanned it, she told me that it was an on-the-spot purchase.


She also recorded that I said I had tapped out at Brighton several times, but that was not what I meant. My intention was to say that I had tapped out at Farringdon. I made a very stupid mistake in expressing myself.


She took my personal details and said that they would contact me by letter. On 4 December, I received a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) letter. I replied to this letter on 15 December, but I did not send it with tracking. At the time, I didn’t know about this forum and did not follow the recommended template when replying. I believe they may not have been satisfied with my response, as I also did not explicitly state that I wished to settle the matter out of court, because I did not know this term at the time.


In my letter, I expressed that I was willing to pay the fine and any additional costs. Then, on 28 January, I received a Single Justice Procedure Notice (SJPN), which requires me to respond within 21 days. This means I must send my response to the court by 16 February, using next-day delivery.


After reading many cases on the forum and following the recommended template, I sent an email requesting an out-of-court settlement at around 2:00 a.m. on 3 February. I also sent a physical letter by post to their address on the afternoon of 3 February, using tracked delivery, and it was delivered on 4 February.


However, in the email, when I wrote the reference number and journey details at the beginning, I misspelled “Farringdon” as “Farrington.” The content of the posted letter, however, was completely correct.


I have several questions regarding this situation.

1. Will the spelling mistake affect their decision on an out-of-court settlement?
   If it might, should I send a follow-up email to clarify or correct the mistake?
2. Based on other cases I’ve seen, the typical turnaround time seems to be around three days.
   If I do not receive a response by Friday 5 February, should I send a chase / follow-up email on Monday next week, or would that be too soon?

I am feeling extremely anxious about this situation. I have spoken to my solicitor, who advised me that a Byelaw 18 offence would not be recorded on a DBS check, but I am still hoping very much that this matter can be settled out of court.


Any advice or experience would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome.
Ok.
Firstly don’t worry about mis spelling Farringdon and don’t bother correcting that.

Your challenge is securing the out of court settlement now in the time before you must send the SJPN papers back to the court. So don’t miss that deadline but hold off sending it as long as possible.

Next, because Thameslink GTR don't accept mitigation by e mail has all your most recent stuff sent byve mail ALSO been sent to GTR by post? It sounds like it was.
At this stage with the clock ticking to the court deadline you need to use next day gauranteed delivery. It also sounds like you did that.

Also. Can you share a copy of at least the most recent communication you have sent to GTR? And what date you sent it.
Remove any personal details and reference numbers before you post a copy of it here for us to see.

Depending on what you wrote will impact on whether it’s worth writing to them again on Monday. So that’s the reason I’m asking you to share a copy of what you sent.

 

[frsss]

Welcome.
Ok.
Firstly don’t worry about mis spelling Farringdon and don’t bother correcting that.

Your challenge is securing the out of court settlement now in the time before you must send the SJPN papers back to the court. So don’t miss that deadline but hold off sending it as long as possible.

Next, because Thameslink GTR don't accept mitigation by e mail has all your most recent stuff sent byve mail ALSO been sent to GTR by post? At this stage with the clock ticking to the court deadline you need to use next day gauranteed delivery.

Also. Can you share a copy of at least the most recent communication you have sent to GTR? And what date you sent it.
Remove any personal details and reference numbers before you post a copy of it here for us to see.

Thank you very much for your quick response. Yes, my initial reply to the NIP was sent by post, but unfortunately it was not tracked. I suspect that it may have been lost during the Christmas holiday period, or that GTR may have reached their six-month time limit.


This was my first request for an out-of-court settlement after receiving the SJPN. Please see below the email I sent at 2:00 a.m. on 3 February.

Dear Sir/Madam,



Reference number:

Incident date: 7th Aug 2025

Journey: Farrington to Brighton



I am writing in relation to the Single Justice Procedure Notice (SJPN) issued following my journey on 7th Aug 2025, when I travelled using an Oyster card beyond its validity and did not hold a valid ticket for the full journey. I also received a Notice of Intention to Prosecute dated 4th Dec 2025, to which I replied on 15th Dec 2025.



Please accept my sincere apologies for this matter. I fully acknowledge that it was my responsibility to ensure I had the correct ticket in place before travelling, and I understand the seriousness of the situation. I regret the inconvenience caused to your staff and the time it has taken to deal with this. Since this incident, I have purchased a season ticket and have made sure to obtain a valid ticket before travelling.



I would like to ask whether you would consider disposing of this matter by way of an out-of-court settlement, so that it may be resolved without court proceedings. I am willing to pay the outstanding fare and any administrative costs incurred.



I appreciate that you are under no obligation to agree, but I would be extremely grateful if you could consider the appropriate amount payable and the method of payment, and whether the court action/SJPN could be withdrawn.

Yours faithfully,





The following letter was sent by post at 1:00 p.m. on 3 February. It was sent using tracked delivery and was delivered at midday on 4 February (today).

Ref:xxx
Journey: Farringdon to Brighton

Dear Sir/Madam,



I am writing in relation to the Single Justice Procedure Notice (SJPN) issued following my journey on 7 August 2025, whenI travelled without a valid ticket. I also received a Notice of Intention to Prosecute dated 4 December 2025, to which I replied on 15 December 2025.



Firstly, I would like to sincerely apologise for this oversight. I fully acknowledge that I committed an offence by boarding the train without a ticket that covered my entire journey.Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience caused to your staff and the time it has taken to deal with this. Since this incident, I have made sure to obtain a valid ticket before travelling each time.



I genuinely understand the importance of adhering to Govia Thameslink Rail's rules and regulations, and I deeply regret my mistake.



I kindly request the possibility of reaching an out-of-courtsettlement in return for withdrawing the SJPN. I am more than willing to pay the outstanding fare and any administrative costs incurred, and I am eager to resolve this matter amicably and promptly.



Once again, I sincerely apologise for my actions and the inconvenience caused. I appreciate that you are under no obligation to agree, but I would be extremely grateful if you could advise whether an out-of-court settlement is possible.


Yours faithfully,



Thank you so much for your advice

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Feb 2026 ==

Welcome.
Ok.
Firstly don’t worry about mis spelling Farringdon and don’t bother correcting that.

Your challenge is securing the out of court settlement now in the time before you must send the SJPN papers back to the court. So don’t miss that deadline but hold off sending it as long as possible.

Next, because Thameslink GTR don't accept mitigation by e mail has all your most recent stuff sent byve mail ALSO been sent to GTR by post? It sounds like it was.
At this stage with the clock ticking to the court deadline you need to use next day gauranteed delivery. It also sounds like you did that.

Also. Can you share a copy of at least the most recent communication you have sent to GTR? And what date you sent it.
Remove any personal details and reference numbers before you post a copy of it here for us to see.

Depending on what you wrote will impact on whether it’s worth writing to them again on Monday. So that’s the reason I’m asking you to share a copy of what you sent.

Please could you kindly advise for the version I sent by post, I did print it out without handwrite signature, would this be ok?

Also in both letter I sent via email and post, I did add my contact number, address and email address.


Thanks so much for your advice!!

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you very much for your quick response. Yes, my initial reply to the NIP was sent by post, but unfortunately it was not tracked. I suspect that it may have been lost during the Christmas holiday period, or that GTR may have reached their six-month time limit.


This was my first request for an out-of-court settlement after receiving the SJPN. Please see below the email I sent at 2:00 a.m. on 3 February.

Dear Sir/Madam,



Reference number:

Incident date: 7th Aug 2025

Journey: Farrington to Brighton



I am writing in relation to the Single Justice Procedure Notice (SJPN) issued following my journey on 7th Aug 2025, when I travelled using an Oyster card beyond its validity and did not hold a valid ticket for the full journey. I also received a Notice of Intention to Prosecute dated 4th Dec 2025, to which I replied on 15th Dec 2025.



Please accept my sincere apologies for this matter. I fully acknowledge that it was my responsibility to ensure I had the correct ticket in place before travelling, and I understand the seriousness of the situation. I regret the inconvenience caused to your staff and the time it has taken to deal with this. Since this incident, I have purchased a season ticket and have made sure to obtain a valid ticket before travelling.



I would like to ask whether you would consider disposing of this matter by way of an out-of-court settlement, so that it may be resolved without court proceedings. I am willing to pay the outstanding fare and any administrative costs incurred.



I appreciate that you are under no obligation to agree, but I would be extremely grateful if you could consider the appropriate amount payable and the method of payment, and whether the court action/SJPN could be withdrawn.

Yours faithfully,





The following letter was sent by post at 1:00 p.m. on 3 February. It was sent using tracked delivery and was delivered at midday on 4 February (today).

Ref:xxx
Journey: Farringdon to Brighton

Dear Sir/Madam,



I am writing in relation to the Single Justice Procedure Notice (SJPN) issued following my journey on 7 August 2025, whenI travelled without a valid ticket. I also received a Notice of Intention to Prosecute dated 4 December 2025, to which I replied on 15 December 2025.



Firstly, I would like to sincerely apologise for this oversight. I fully acknowledge that I committed an offence by boarding the train without a ticket that covered my entire journey.Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience caused to your staff and the time it has taken to deal with this. Since this incident, I have made sure to obtain a valid ticket before travelling each time.



I genuinely understand the importance of adhering to Govia Thameslink Rail's rules and regulations, and I deeply regret my mistake.



I kindly request the possibility of reaching an out-of-courtsettlement in return for withdrawing the SJPN. I am more than willing to pay the outstanding fare and any administrative costs incurred, and I am eager to resolve this matter amicably and promptly.



Once again, I sincerely apologise for my actions and the inconvenience caused. I appreciate that you are under no obligation to agree, but I would be extremely grateful if you could advise whether an out-of-court settlement is possible.


Yours faithfully,



Thank you so much for your advice

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Feb 2026 ==


Please could you kindly advise for the version I sent by post, I did print it out without handwrite signature, would this be ok?

Also in both letter I sent via email and post, I did add my contact number, address and email address.


Thanks so much for your advice!!

Thanks - reading the copies of what you have written I don't think there is really anything wrong with what you have said to them in your letters.

I suspect the problem is as you suspect, your original reply in December got lost / never acted upon - and the most recent responses have not yet got to the top of the list and been acted on.
And they will have been mindful of the 6 month period for them to take court action since the date of the travel without the ticket when you were stopped.

As you appreciate - if your SJPN papers have to be back at the court on Monday 16th Feb, then you need to be posting them off on Friday 13 February with next day delivery - probably no later than about 3pm at your local post office with next day delivery.

So you only have next week to get a reply from GTR.

I think therefore if you have not heard from GTR by Monday we should help you do a polite chasing up e-mail and letter that you can send on Monday - something short and stressing the urgency of the need for a reply to your letter of 3 February.

That can be prepared over this weekend ready to send on Monday if needs be.

Also

I have often read on here when these SJPN deadlines are close that something you can do is to complete the SJPN paperwork making a 'Not Guilty' plea and a request for the case to be heard in person in the Magistrates court. This may seem counter intuitive but what I have read here is that doing this results in the Magistrates court then setting a date for a court hearing in person, which is inevitably some further weeks ahead. That serves to create more time for you to press GTR again about securing an out of court settlement and them withdrawing the court action (which means you don't in the end have to go to the court at all)

This could therefore be your plea on the paperwork when you send it on the 13th Feb if you are comfortable with that approach.

This is instead of pleading 'Guilty' on the SJPN which would have the effect of bringing the matter to a close (but not in your favour) more or less as soon as the paperwork reached the court I assume, since you would then get issued with a guilty verdict, a court fine and a criminal record - all of which you are seeking to avoid.

The only other course of action that I can think of would be for you to contact one of the specialist rail fare evasion solicitors like Manak Solicitors who I believe claim to have a direct fast track channel of communication with GTR Thameslink to request them to try their best to resolve this for you out of court - but that would probably cost at least £500 in fees to the solicitor.

 

[frsss]

Thanks - reading the copies of what you have written I don't think there is really anything wrong with what you have said to them in your letters.

I suspect the problem is as you suspect, your original reply in December got lost / never acted upon - and the most recent responses have not yet got to the top of the list and been acted on.
And they will have been mindful of the 6 month period for them to take court action since the date of the travel without the ticket when you were stopped.

As you appreciate - if your SJPN papers have to be back at the court on Monday 16th Feb, then you need to be posting them off on Friday 13 February with next day delivery - probably no later than about 3pm at your local post office with next day delivery.

So you only have next week to get a reply from GTR.

I think therefore if you have not heard from GTR by Monday we should help you do a polite chasing up e-mail and letter that you can send on Monday - something short and stressing the urgency of the need for a reply to your letter of 3 February.

That can be prepared over this weekend ready to send on Monday if needs be.

Also

I have often read on here when these SJPN deadlines are close that something you can do is to complete the SJPN paperwork making a 'Not Guilty' plea and a request for the case to be heard in person in the Magistrates court. This may seem counter intuitive but what I have read here is that doing this results in the Magistrates court then setting a date for a court hearing in person, which is inevitably some further weeks ahead. That serves to create more time for you to press GTR again about securing an out of court settlement and them withdrawing the court action (which means you don't in the end have to go to the court at all)

This could therefore be your plea on the paperwork when you send it on the 13th Feb if you are comfortable with that approach.

This is instead of pleading 'Guilty' on the SJPN which would have the effect of bringing the matter to a close (but not in your favour) more or less as soon as the paperwork reached the court I assume, since you would then get issued with a guilty verdict, a court fine and a criminal record - all of which you are seeking to avoid.

The only other course of action that I can think of would be for you to contact one of the specialist rail fare evasion solicitors like Manak Solicitors who I believe claim to have a direct fast track channel of communication with GTR Thameslink to request them to try their best to resolve this for you out of court - but that would probably cost at least £500 in fees to the solicitor.

Thank you very much for your reply. If I do not hear back from GTR by tomorrow evening, I will update the thread. If you or any other advisors could help me prepare a chase email to send on Monday, I would be extremely grateful.



Regarding your suggestion about pleading not guilty and attending court in person, thank you very much for your advice. However, I will be leaving the UK in March and will only return towards the end of the month. In light of this, would you still recommend that I plead not guilty?





I also have another question:


If I plead not guilty, would I effectively be relying on GTR agreeing to an out-of-court settlement? If they decide not to settle, would I still be able to change my plea to guilty at a later stage, or would that no longer be possible?



I recall that when I moved house in September, I emailed GTR to request an address update. I sent the email on a Sunday, and they replied on the following Wednesday afternoon. I have also seen on this forum that for some other cases, the turnaround time (TAT) was around three days, and that GTR responded to settlement requests via email. However, I am also concerned that GTR may not respond to my settlement request email and may simply ignore it.





Based on this, may I ask whether you think it is likely that GTR would agree to an out-of-court settlement in my case?


Regarding instructing a solicitor, I may not currently have sufficient budget to engage one.


This is my first offence. I have always purchased valid tickets previously, and I have continued to do so since the incident.



Thank you very much. I look forward to your reply.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you very much for your reply. If I do not hear back from GTR by tomorrow evening, I will update the thread. If you or any other advisors could help me prepare a chase email to send on Monday, I would be extremely grateful.



Regarding your suggestion about pleading not guilty and attending court in person, thank you very much for your advice. However, I will be leaving the UK in March and will only return towards the end of the month. In light of this, would you still recommend that I plead not guilty?





I also have another question:


If I plead not guilty, would I effectively be relying on GTR agreeing to an out-of-court settlement? If they decide not to settle, would I still be able to change my plea to guilty at a later stage, or would that no longer be possible?



I recall that when I moved house in September, I emailed GTR to request an address update. I sent the email on a Sunday, and they replied on the following Wednesday afternoon. I have also seen on this forum that for some other cases, the turnaround time (TAT) was around three days, and that GTR responded to settlement requests via email. However, I am also concerned that GTR may not respond to my settlement request email and may simply ignore it.





Based on this, may I ask whether you think it is likely that GTR would agree to an out-of-court settlement in my case?


Regarding instructing a solicitor, I may not currently have sufficient budget to engage one.


This is my first offence. I have always purchased valid tickets previously, and I have continued to do so since the incident.



Thank you very much. I look forward to your reply.

I think GTR would be highly likely to settle out of court on this. You are not a deliberate fare evader.

It’s just getting them to consider your request in time I think.

It’s a frustrating situation you are in.

Yes. I think you can change a plea later. Court experts on here will probably advise on that but I suspect haven’t seen your thread yet. You can consider that next week anyway.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Feb 2026 ==

Given your timescale feel free to update your thread as often as you wish.

Happy to help with a chase up message. I seem to recall doing one a while ago for a very similar situation. Might be able to copy that.

 

[frsss]

I think GTR would be highly likely to settle out of court on this. You are not a deliberate fare evader.

It’s just getting them to consider your request in time I think.

It’s a frustrating situation you are in.

Yes. I think you can change a plea later. Court experts on here will probably advise on that but I suspect haven’t seen your thread yet. You can consider that next week anyway.

Thank you very much for your advice. Yes, I am also concerned about whether they will be able to respond to me in time, but I will continue to wait and, start considering how to deal with the court process if I do not receive a response. I will keep the thread updated if there are any further response from GTR. Thank you to you and the other advisors for any further help you can provide!!!

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you very much for your advice. Yes, I am also concerned about whether they will be able to respond to me in time, but I will continue to wait and, start considering how to deal with the court process if I do not receive a response. I will keep the thread updated if there are any further response from GTR. Thank you to you and the other advisors for any further help you can provide!!!

Did you keep a copy of your original response to the railway? The one sent in December.

 

[frsss]

Did you keep a copy of your original response to the railway? The one sent in December.

Unfortunately, I did not keep a copy of that letter, and it was also not sent using tracked delivery. The only evidence I currently have is my bank statement showing a payment at the Post Office on the day it was sent, which I understand may not be particularly persuasive.

 

[Haywain]

something you can do is to complete the SJPN paperwork making a 'Not Guilty' plea and a request for the case to be heard in person in the Magistrates court.

A not guilty plea will result in an 'in person' hearing without any special request being made, as it clearly indicates a defence will be mounted. It is also possible to plead guilty with a request for a personal hearing to provide mitigation.

 

[frsss]

I think GTR would be highly likely to settle out of court on this. You are not a deliberate fare evader.

It’s just getting them to consider your request in time I think.

It’s a frustrating situation you are in.

Yes. I think you can change a plea later. Court experts on here will probably advise on that but I suspect haven’t seen your thread yet. You can consider that next week anyway.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Feb 2026 ==

Given your timescale feel free to update your thread as often as you wish.

Happy to help with a chase up message. I seem to recall doing one a while ago for a very similar situation. Might be able to copy that.

Thank you very much!!!

I am currently waiting anxiously and really hoping to hear back from them this afternoon. Thank you very much for your suggested chase-up message — that was extremely helpful. If I do not receive a response today, I will be prepared to send a follow-up first thing on Monday.





That said, I am still concerned about whether they will deal with settlement requests via email, or whether my email might simply be overlooked. However, I have seen several cases on this forum where others have successfully received responses by email, so I am hoping that will also be the case for me.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Feb 2026 ==

A not guilty plea will result in an 'in person' hearing without any special request being made, as it clearly indicates a defence will be mounted. It is also possible to plead guilty with a request for a personal hearing to provide mitigation.

Thank you very much for your explanation. May I ask whether, if I plead guilty and request an in-person hearing, the court would usually schedule the hearing sooner than if I were to plead not guilty?


This is because I will be leaving the UK for almost a month in March and will not return until 21 March.

 

[WesternLancer]

Unfortunately, I did not keep a copy of that letter, and it was also not sent using tracked delivery. The only evidence I currently have is my bank statement showing a payment at the Post Office on the day it was sent, which I understand may not be particularly persuasive.

not to worry

 

[jumble]

Thanks - reading the copies of what you have written I don't think there is really anything wrong with what you have said to them in your letters.

I suspect the problem is as you suspect, your original reply in December got lost / never acted upon - and the most recent responses have not yet got to the top of the list and been acted on.
And they will have been mindful of the 6 month period for them to take court action since the date of the travel without the ticket when you were stopped.

As you appreciate - if your SJPN papers have to be back at the court on Monday 16th Feb, then you need to be posting them off on Friday 13 February with next day delivery - probably no later than about 3pm at your local post office with next day delivery.

So you only have next week to get a reply from GTR.

I think therefore if you have not heard from GTR by Monday we should help you do a polite chasing up e-mail and letter that you can send on Monday - something short and stressing the urgency of the need for a reply to your letter of 3 February.

That can be prepared over this weekend ready to send on Monday if needs be.

Also

I have often read on here when these SJPN deadlines are close that something you can do is to complete the SJPN paperwork making a 'Not Guilty' plea and a request for the case to be heard in person in the Magistrates court. This may seem counter intuitive but what I have read here is that doing this results in the Magistrates court then setting a date for a court hearing in person, which is inevitably some further weeks ahead. That serves to create more time for you to press GTR again about securing an out of court settlement and them withdrawing the court action (which means you don't in the end have to go to the court at all)

This could therefore be your plea on the paperwork when you send it on the 13th Feb if you are comfortable with that approach.

This is instead of pleading 'Guilty' on the SJPN which would have the effect of bringing the matter to a close (but not in your favour) more or less as soon as the paperwork reached the court I assume, since you would then get issued with a guilty verdict, a court fine and a criminal record - all of which you are seeking to avoid.

The only other course of action that I can think of would be for you to contact one of the specialist rail fare evasion solicitors like Manak Solicitors who I believe claim to have a direct fast track channel of communication with GTR Thameslink to request them to try their best to resolve this for you out of court - but that would probably cost at least £500 in fees to the solicitor.

I may be mistaken but I think that I have seen cases on the forum where people have approached the prosecutor just before the hearing and have been able to settle without going in front of the magistrate.
If this route is taken and is successful the OP must have the funds available to pay up immediately

 

[WesternLancer]

I may be mistaken but I think that I have seen cases on the forum where people have approached the prosecutor just before the hearing and have been able to settle without going in front of the magistrate.
If this route is taken and is successful the OP must have the funds available to pay up immediately

Yes, good point indeed. That should be considered as part of the fall back options I would think.

Though for this to happen it will need the case to be heard in person - and on a date when the OP can attend court (ie not when they are out of the country).

I don't know how court processes work if you are given a date for a case like this but happen to be abroad - ie if such dates can be adjusted - or if you are juts expected to be present on the date given and if you are not present the case just gets heard in your absence.

 

[z444z]

We recently saw another GTR case where the SJPN was issued and following an urgent letter requesting again to settle GTR were happy to do so.

Of course it’s good to discuss backup options but I do think it’s very likely the letter/email will do the job.

 

[frsss]

I may be mistaken but I think that I have seen cases on the forum where people have approached the prosecutor just before the hearing and have been able to settle without going in front of the magistrate.
If this route is taken and is successful the OP must have the funds available to pay up immediately

Thank you very much for your advice. If this approach is also viable, I would be willing to try it as well. However, I am not sure whether the court would be able to reschedule the hearing, as I will be leaving the UK for almost a month next month and will not return until 21 March. I would be very grateful if anyone with legal knowledge could provide some guidance on this.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Feb 2026 ==

Yes, good point indeed. That should be considered as part of the fall back options I would think.

Though for this to happen it will need the case to be heard in person - and on a date when the OP can attend court (ie not when they are out of the country).

I don't know how court processes work if you are given a date for a case like this but happen to be abroad - ie if such dates can be adjusted - or if you are juts expected to be present on the date given and if you are not present the case just gets heard in your absence.

Thank you!!That is exactly what I was thinking as well. If the date is suitable, I would be willing to attend and speak with the prosecutor.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Feb 2026 ==

We recently saw another GTR case where the SJPN was issued and following an urgent letter requesting again to settle GTR were happy to do so.

Of course it’s good to discuss backup options but I do think it’s very likely the letter/email will do the job.

Thank you very much. I also hope that the letter and email will be effective. However, as of today (Friday), it has been three working days and I have not yet received a reply from GTR by email. I understand that the posted letter may take longer. Would you recommend that I prepare to send a chase / follow-up email on Monday? Please if anyone could provide me some advice on how to draft it, I really appreciate it!

I believe that some of the wording in the SJPN is not favourable to me. However, the basis of the prosecution still appears to be travelling with an invalid ticket and purchasing a ticket only when challenged by the inspector.


Another thing I am anxious about is the possibility that GTR may have already seen my email but chosen to ignore it.

Again thank you so much for all the advice!

 

[fandroid]

The priority must be to establish contact with GTR.

However, as a secondary consideration it could be worth trying to gain evidence to show that the mistake with the Oyster card was a one off (or very limited in number). As you've said the inspector got the impression that you'd travelled to Brighton several times using only the Oyster.

If the card is registered with TfL then there will be a record of uncompleted journeys, showing only the tap-in. If the error was made only once then there will be only one uncompleted journey recorded. If this evidence can be found, then GTR might be convinced it was only a one-off and settled for a modest amount, possibly just equivalent to a Penalty Fare.

Others can advise better on finding that evidence from TfL.

 

[Haywain]

May I ask whether, if I plead guilty and request an in-person hearing, the court would usually schedule the hearing sooner than if I were to plead not guilty?


This is because I will be leaving the UK for almost a month in March and will not return until 21 March.

I don't imagine the plea will make any difference to the scheduling of the hearing. You will need to advise the court of the period of time during which you are unavailable.

If the date is suitable, I would be willing to attend and speak with the prosecutor.

If the hearing is rescheduled and the date is unsuitable so that you don't attend the court will not look on that kindly.

 

[frsss]

The priority must be to establish contact with GTR.

However, as a secondary consideration it could be worth trying to gain evidence to show that the mistake with the Oyster card was a one off (or very limited in number). As you've said the inspector got the impression that you'd travelled to Brighton several times using only the Oyster.

If the card is registered with TfL then there will be a record of uncompleted journeys, showing only the tap-in. If the error was made only once then there will be only one uncompleted journey recorded. If this evidence can be found, then GTR might be convinced it was only a one-off and settled for a modest amount, possibly just equivalent to a Penalty Fare.

Others can advise better on finding that evidence from TfL.

Thank you for your reply. In fact, I would like to clarify that this was the first time I attempted to use an Oyster card on Thameslink. I started my journey from Stratford and changed trains at Farringdon, where there was no need to exit the station.





What I was trying to explain at the time was that I had tapped on a machine within Farringdon station. When I later attempted to exit the station, I already had a recorded journey from Stratford to Farringdon on my Oyster card. In such situations, when I try to leave the station, I usually have to speak to a member of staff and explain that I have already tapped in; they sometimes check my journey history and then allow me to exit.





However, because I was very panicked at the time, I mistakenly said “Brighton” instead of “Farringdon”, which caused confusion.




I no longer have any direct evidence of this, as the Oyster card used at the time belonged to a friend who has since returned to their home country, and I later obtained my own Oyster card. However, if GTR were to review my previous travel history, they should be able to see my ticket purchase records. As I had only just started my job at the time, I had not travelled to Brighton many times.

Would you recommend that I send another email to clarify this point? Neither my email nor my letter mentioned it, as I was concerned about potentially creating further issues or giving the impression that I was arguing the case rather than simply seeking a settlement. Thank you.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Feb 2026 ==

I don't imagine the plea will make any difference to the scheduling of the hearing. You will need to advise the court of the period of time during which you are unavailable.

If the hearing is rescheduled and the date is unsuitable so that you don't attend the court will not look on that kindly.

Thank you very much for your advice — it has been very helpful. May I ask whether this information needs to be provided on the same form/sheet where I enter my guilty or not guilty plea?

 

[Haywain]

May I ask whether this information needs to be provided on the same form/sheet where I enter my guilty or not guilty plea?

I'm not familiar with the form you've been provided but if it does not allow you to add this you should attach a note explaining that you are unavailable to attend court between the relevant dates, and why.

 

[frsss]

I'm not familiar with the form you've been provided but if it does not allow you to add this you should attach a note explaining that you are unavailable to attend court between the relevant dates, and why.

Thank you very much. If GTR ultimately does not respond, I can post the completed form here and would be very grateful for any advice.

 

[z444z]

Would you recommend that I send another email to clarify this point?

No. Our experience shows that GTR settle when contact is made, so that needs to be the focus. I would suggest a follow up email marked as urgent on Sunday evening. I can help with the wording of that later today or tomorrow, others may be able to assist sooner.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you very much for your reply. If I do not hear back from GTR by tomorrow evening, I will update the thread. If you or any other advisors could help me prepare a chase email to send on Monday, I would be extremely grateful.

So if you have not heard by Monday (say mid to late morning) i would suggest you send GTR another short and focussed chase e-mail basically about the urgency of this (and then also post that Guaranteed Next Day Delivery on Monday, posting it by the Post Office 'cut off time' - so about 3pm - at your local post office)

You will need to fill in relevant sections marked xxxx I think you should include all your contact details to make it as easy as possible for them to contact you with a reply

You would e-mail this to: gtr.prosecutions@gtrailway.com

and post a printed version of it (which you can sign by hand) to - assuming this is the address you have on paperwork for GTR:

Prosecutions Department, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), Eastside Offices, Kings Cross Railway Station, London N1C 4AX.

Others here may be able to suggest some improvements to this draft ahead of Monday when you might need to send it

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



subject line e-mail title : Urgent Request to Settle out of Court due to imminent court action - case ref xxxxxxx.


Dear Sir / Madam

Your case ref: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [include the reference number(s) on their paperwork]

Name and address xxxxxxxxxxx,

I am hoping you can consider this urgently because if have received SJPN court paperwork and have an imminent deadline to return this paperwork.

I am respectfully asking if you will allow me to settle this matter out of court, and withdraw court action.

Please be assured that I never had any intention to avoid paying for the correct rail fare.

I replied to your original correspondence about this on 15 December 2025 but I am concerned that you perhaps never received my response, as I received SJPN prosecution paperwork on 28 January 2026. I wrote again on 3 February 2026 - copy attached for your ease of reference - explaining that I misunderstood the validity of my Oyster Card (I am not a UK citizen) but I did not intend to evade the fare, and that I would be very grateful if you could let me resolve the issue by paying any fare owed plus your administrative costs.

Once again, I am sorry for this incident and promise this action will not happen again.

I would be very grateful if you could consider withdrawing the court action. I am willing to pay any unpaid fare plus your investigation costs in order to reach a settlement out of court.

I would greatly appreciate you considering this request as quickly as possible due to the impending date for return of court papers.

In case it helps I can be contacted as below:

By e-mail: xxxxx

By phone: xxxxx

By post at: xxxxx

Yours faithfully

----------------------------------------------------
merged post:


== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Feb 2026 ==

No. Our experience shows that GTR settle when contact is made, so that needs to be the focus. I would suggest a follow up email marked as urgent on Sunday evening. I can help with the wording of that later today or tomorrow, others may be able to assist sooner.

Your post cross posted with my suggested draft (please feel free to improve) for a chase up message that could be sent on Monday or Sunday evening - totally agree that the focus now just needs to be contact with GTR to request the settlement.

To the OP @frsss - raising other matters about your journey or whose Oyster card it was etc etc at this stage will, in my view, simply complicate the correspondence you are sending them, lengthen it, and make it less likely that anyone at their end actually reads it properly in the time available.

You've sent them a reasonable explanation of what happened in the letter you sent a few days ago - what needs to happen now is for GTR to read that and act on your request - that's the focus now - so don't worry about the finer points of what happened when you made the mistake originally.

Also - don't get concerned too much at this stage with what to do about the court / your plea etc. That can wait until Monday as you will have between Monday evening and Thursday to get advice about that here and weigh up what you wish to do with regards to your court papers.

 

[frsss]

So if you have not heard by Monday (say mid to late morning) i would suggest you send GTR another short and focussed chase e-mail basically about the urgency of this (and then also post that Guaranteed Next Day Delivery on Monday, posting it by the Post Office 'cut off time' - so about 3pm - at your local post office)

You will need to fill in relevant sections marked xxxx I think you should include all your contact details to make it as easy as possible for them to contact you with a reply

You would e-mail this to: gtr.prosecutions@gtrailway.com

and post a printed version of it (which you can sign by hand) to - assuming this is the address you have on paperwork for GTR:

Prosecutions Department, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), Eastside Offices, Kings Cross Railway Station, London N1C 4AX.

Others here may be able to suggest some improvements to this draft ahead of Monday when you might need to send it

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



subject line e-mail title : Urgent Request to Settle out of Court due to imminent court action - case ref xxxxxxx.


Dear Sir / Madam

Your case ref: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [include the reference number(s) on their paperwork]

Name and address xxxxxxxxxxx,

I am hoping you can consider this urgently because if have received SJPN court paperwork and have an imminent deadline to return this paperwork.

I am respectfully asking if you will allow me to settle this matter out of court, and withdraw court action.

Please be assured that I never had any intention to avoid paying for the correct rail fare.

I replied to your original correspondence about this on 15 December 2025 but I am concerned that you perhaps never received my response, as I received SJPN prosecution paperwork on 28 January 2026. I wrote again on 3 February 2026 - copy attached for your ease of reference - explaining that I misunderstood the validity of my Oyster Card (I am not a UK citizen) but I did not intend to evade the fare, and that I would be very grateful if you could let me resolve the issue by paying any fare owed plus your administrative costs.

Once again, I am sorry for this incident and promise this action will not happen again.

I would be very grateful if you could consider withdrawing the court action. I am willing to pay any unpaid fare plus your investigation costs in order to reach a settlement out of court.

I would greatly appreciate you considering this request as quickly as possible due to the impending date for return of court papers.

In case it helps I can be contacted as below:

By e-mail: xxxxx

By phone: xxxxx

By post at: xxxxx

Yours faithfully

----------------------------------------------------
merged post:


== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Feb 2026 ==


Your post cross posted with my suggested draft (please feel free to improve) for a chase up message that could be sent on Monday or Sunday evening - totally agree that the focus now just needs to be contact with GTR to request the settlement.

To the OP @frsss - raising other matters about your journey or whose Oyster card it was etc etc at this stage will, in my view, simply complicate the correspondence you are sending them, lengthen it, and make it less likely that anyone at their end actually reads it properly in the time available.

You've sent them a reasonable explanation of what happened in the letter you sent a few days ago - what needs to happen now is for GTR to read that and act on your request - that's the focus now - so don't worry about the finer points of what happened when you made the mistake originally.

Also - don't get concerned too much at this stage with what to do about the court / your plea etc. That can wait until Monday as you will have between Monday evening and Thursday to get advice about that here and weigh up what you wish to do with regards to your court papers.

Thank you for the draft. If I do not receive a response next week, I will send the revised draft on Monday. I will also post the revised version here and would be grateful for any advice.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Feb 2026 ==

No. Our experience shows that GTR settle when contact is made, so that needs to be the focus. I would suggest a follow up email marked as urgent on Sunday evening. I can help with the wording of that later today or tomorrow, others may be able to assist sooner.

Thank you very much!!!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Feb 2026 ==

So if you have not heard by Monday (say mid to late morning) i would suggest you send GTR another short and focussed chase e-mail basically about the urgency of this (and then also post that Guaranteed Next Day Delivery on Monday, posting it by the Post Office 'cut off time' - so about 3pm - at your local post office)

You will need to fill in relevant sections marked xxxx I think you should include all your contact details to make it as easy as possible for them to contact you with a reply

You would e-mail this to: gtr.prosecutions@gtrailway.com

and post a printed version of it (which you can sign by hand) to - assuming this is the address you have on paperwork for GTR:

Prosecutions Department, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), Eastside Offices, Kings Cross Railway Station, London N1C 4AX.

Others here may be able to suggest some improvements to this draft ahead of Monday when you might need to send it

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



subject line e-mail title : Urgent Request to Settle out of Court due to imminent court action - case ref xxxxxxx.


Dear Sir / Madam

Your case ref: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [include the reference number(s) on their paperwork]

Name and address xxxxxxxxxxx,

I am hoping you can consider this urgently because if have received SJPN court paperwork and have an imminent deadline to return this paperwork.

I am respectfully asking if you will allow me to settle this matter out of court, and withdraw court action.

Please be assured that I never had any intention to avoid paying for the correct rail fare.

I replied to your original correspondence about this on 15 December 2025 but I am concerned that you perhaps never received my response, as I received SJPN prosecution paperwork on 28 January 2026. I wrote again on 3 February 2026 - copy attached for your ease of reference - explaining that I misunderstood the validity of my Oyster Card (I am not a UK citizen) but I did not intend to evade the fare, and that I would be very grateful if you could let me resolve the issue by paying any fare owed plus your administrative costs.

Once again, I am sorry for this incident and promise this action will not happen again.

I would be very grateful if you could consider withdrawing the court action. I am willing to pay any unpaid fare plus your investigation costs in order to reach a settlement out of court.

I would greatly appreciate you considering this request as quickly as possible due to the impending date for return of court papers.

In case it helps I can be contacted as below:

By e-mail: xxxxx

By phone: xxxxx

By post at: xxxxx

Yours faithfully

----------------------------------------------------
merged post:


== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Feb 2026 ==


Your post cross posted with my suggested draft (please feel free to improve) for a chase up message that could be sent on Monday or Sunday evening - totally agree that the focus now just needs to be contact with GTR to request the settlement.

To the OP @frsss - raising other matters about your journey or whose Oyster card it was etc etc at this stage will, in my view, simply complicate the correspondence you are sending them, lengthen it, and make it less likely that anyone at their end actually reads it properly in the time available.

You've sent them a reasonable explanation of what happened in the letter you sent a few days ago - what needs to happen now is for GTR to read that and act on your request - that's the focus now - so don't worry about the finer points of what happened when you made the mistake originally.

Also - don't get concerned too much at this stage with what to do about the court / your plea etc. That can wait until Monday as you will have between Monday evening and Thursday to get advice about that here and weigh up what you wish to do with regards to your court papers.

Thank you very much for your advice. I also agree that it is best not to complicate matters further. The basis of the prosecution is that I was travelling without a valid ticket, and I accept that this is correct. Regardless of my original intention, I did not have a valid ticket at the time, and for that reason I am hoping to resolve the matter by settlement.





With regard to my ticket purchase history, I have also seen on the forum that if GTR wish to check, they are able to do so. This would show that I do in fact have a history of purchasing valid tickets, and that all of my journeys after this incident have been fully compliant.





I should also apologise, as I initially miscalculated the court deadline. My SJPN pack must reach the court by 18 February. I allowed myself a few extra days as a precaution in case of postal delays, and I am able to send it by next-day delivery before 3 p.m. on the 17th.





At the moment, my main concern is whether GTR might not respond to my settlement request email. I understand that settlement requests are sometimes dealt with slowly, but I have also seen many cases on the forum where people have successfully settled via email. Not having received a reply today has made me feel somewhat anxious.

 

[WesternLancer]

I should also apologise, as I initially miscalculated the court deadline. My SJPN pack must reach the court by 18 February. I allowed myself a few extra days as a precaution in case of postal delays, and I am able to send it by next-day delivery before 3 p.m. on the 17th.


At the moment, my main concern is whether GTR might not respond to my settlement request email. I understand that settlement requests are sometimes dealt with slowly, but I have also seen many cases on the forum where people have successfully settled via email. Not having received a reply today has made me feel somewhat anxious.

Good to know there is a little bit more time regarding the court papers deadline

Yes, I can see this would make you anxious - the problem is that they will only have a small number of staff dealing with this sort of thing in their office and no doubt lots of cases to wade through - all you can do is hope they notice the urgency of it and take action.

My draft is really intending to focus on the urgency - not the issue (your earlier reply addresses the issue and I suggest it is re-attached to any reminder you send so they can easily look over it if they wish without searching about their office for the copies they have already been sent).

Keep an eye on your spam as well as your e-mail and post of course.

 

[frsss]

Good to know there is a little bit more time regarding the court papers deadline

Yes, I can see this would make you anxious - the problem is that they will only have a small number of staff dealing with this sort of thing in their office and no doubt lots of cases to wade through - all you can do is hope they notice the urgency of it and take action.

My draft is really intending to focus on the urgency - not the issue (your earlier reply addresses the issue and I suggest it is re-attached to any reminder you send so they can easily look over it if they wish without searching about their office for the copies they have already been sent).

Keep an eye on your spam as well as your e-mail and post of course.

Thank you very much for your advice. I will keep an eye on my inbox and spam folder, as well as any post I receive. When I send a chase email, I will make sure to emphasise the urgency, particularly as the auto-reply states that cases are handled in chronological order.





Based on my previous experience emailing them to update my address, I received a response on the third afternoon, which makes me worry that they may already have seen my settlement request email but have chosen not to reply, possibly intending to proceed with the court process and treat the lack of response as a refusal.





In my previous email, I did mark it as urgent, but the subject line was “Apology and request for an out-of-court settlement – Ref: XXX”. I am now concerned that this subject line may not have conveyed sufficient urgency.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you very much for your advice. I will keep an eye on my inbox and spam folder, as well as any post I receive. When I send a chase email, I will make sure to emphasise the urgency, particularly as the auto-reply states that cases are handled in chronological order.





Based on my previous experience emailing them to update my address, I received a response on the third afternoon, which makes me worry that they may already have seen my settlement request email but have chosen not to reply, possibly intending to proceed with the court process and treat the lack of response as a refusal.





In my previous email, I did mark it as urgent, but the subject line was “Apology and request for an out-of-court settlement – Ref: XXX”. I am now concerned that this subject line may not have conveyed sufficient urgency.

there isn't really anything much you can do until Monday unfortunately.

I very much doubt they are deliberately ignoring what you have sent them - their e-mail system is intended for change of address details so I suspect the member of staff who deals with that can action them quickly - settlement requests probably need to be passed to someone with the authority to make that decision and I suspect it's just in the queue for one of those staff at that level of decision making.

It's entirely logical that a change of address message would be dealt with more quickly than a request to settle out of court I'm afraid.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Feb 2026 ==

we have sometimes seen railway companies reply over the weekend (when I wouldn't have expected them to be working) so worth you keeping an eye out for e-mails over weekend tho that is a long shot. And of course post can arrive on a saturday.
So do update if you get any news.

 

[frsss]

there isn't really anything much you can do until Monday unfortunately.

I very much doubt they are deliberately ignoring what you have sent them - their e-mail system is intended for change of address details so I suspect the member of staff who deals with that can action them quickly - settlement requests probably need to be passed to someone with the authority to make that decision and I suspect it's just in the queue for one of those staff at that level of decision making.

It's entirely logical that a change of address message would be dealt with more quickly than a request to settle out of court I'm afraid.

Thank you very much for your explanation — it has really helped to ease my anxiety.


I agree that there is probably nothing more I can do before Monday, so it may be better to try to relax and enjoy the weekend.


I also wish you and the other advisors a very pleasant weekend.

 

[frsss]

there isn't really anything much you can do until Monday unfortunately.

I very much doubt they are deliberately ignoring what you have sent them - their e-mail system is intended for change of address details so I suspect the member of staff who deals with that can action them quickly - settlement requests probably need to be passed to someone with the authority to make that decision and I suspect it's just in the queue for one of those staff at that level of decision making.

It's entirely logical that a change of address message would be dealt with more quickly than a request to settle out of court I'm afraid.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Feb 2026 ==

we have sometimes seen railway companies reply over the weekend (when I wouldn't have expected them to be working) so worth you keeping an eye out for e-mails over weekend tho that is a long shot. And of course post can arrive on a saturday.
So do update if you get any news.

Thank you very much for your explanation!


I agree that there is probably nothing more I can do before Monday, so it may be better to try to relax and enjoy the weekend.


I also wish you and the other advisors a very pleasant weekend.


Oh I wasn’t aware of that they are working over the weekend.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Feb 2026 ==

there isn't really anything much you can do until Monday unfortunately.

I very much doubt they are deliberately ignoring what you have sent them - their e-mail system is intended for change of address details so I suspect the member of staff who deals with that can action them quickly - settlement requests probably need to be passed to someone with the authority to make that decision and I suspect it's just in the queue for one of those staff at that level of decision making.

It's entirely logical that a change of address message would be dealt with more quickly than a request to settle out of court I'm afraid.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Feb 2026 ==

we have sometimes seen railway companies reply over the weekend (when I wouldn't have expected them to be working) so worth you keeping an eye out for e-mails over weekend tho that is a long shot. And of course post can arrive on a saturday.
So do update if you get any news.

I hope GTR will be able to respond as soon as possible. I have just checked both my email and post, but I haven’t received any updates yet.


If I have any new contact or communication from GTR, I will update the thread here.

 

[Haywain]

My SJPN pack must reach the court by 18 February.

You need to chill a bit and wait for a response.